Near the Rupture (Reference Analysis)
"Achieving Freedom" Context “Achieving Freedom” is the name of a parallel, alternate universe based on Hoshino Katsura’s series, “D.Gray-man.” The characters are the same (though altered), but the events and setting are almost entirely different. Achieving Freedom II is a branch off of the first, but the characters are changed as well, so nothing is exactly the same as it is in D.Gray-man. However, this universe is more abstract than the one before it. Some of my writing is based off this world, so nothing from the “original” universe ends up in my writing. For the sake of omitting information that cannot be changed but is also too specific to use in my own work, only metaphor or loose phrases carry through, and many of the main characters do not have names in-story. Stanza 1: “A” is the variable name for the main character of Achieving Freedom, who was originally “Allen Walker” in DGM. “A” is not Allen Walker, but he is his counterpart in this parallel universe. Similar to “A,” “K” is parallel to the character “Kanda Yuu” from DGM. “L” is parallel to “Alma Karma” from DGM. The first two lines are about an event that happened in one variation of Achieving Freedom. The poem and short story of the same title, “Until Tomorrow,” was based off this event, and occurs as its own branch off Achieving Freedom II. The branch ends in this story after the narrator finds their friend (parallel to “A”) after they committed suicide. Genders, names, and other personal information is left out because it is not crucial to the story. In another version of the same branch, “Author,” which is part 5 of “Birds” (poem), is about the same person. The author is “A,” as well as the narrator’s friend in “Until Tomorrow.” He is also the “Cub,” but more information about that will be in the analysis of “Birds.” Line 3 is about a plotpoint that occurs in all branches of Achieving Freedom, based off an extremely different (yet somewhat parallel) plotpoint in DGM. Line 4 describes a parallel that occurs in two different universes. The first, “another world” would be the setting of a short piece titled “More Than a Prologue,” which was loosely based off a related aspect of Achieving Freedom, the aftermath of line 3. “In yet another world” where L “only used to be a woman,” refers to the original DGM series. Alma, whom “L” is parallel to, was a woman in his past life. Line 5 refers to a setting (not yet made into a written story, though there are some drawings) revolving around a University-Prep School called Pandion. The main characters (including Abel and Nico) are childhood friends and now, students in the Tribellic department. Line 6 refers to a pair of corresponding poems titled “Susan” and “Mortimer,” which were about a mortician’s love for a florist who, unfortunately, only came to see him after her own death. Line 7 refers to the short story, “When the Morning Comes” (later written as a poem of the same title), based off the song, “This Too Shall Pass,” by OK Go. In this story, M-1 is the narrator and M-3 is their friend, and, as they later find out, the doorkeeper. “Doorkeeper” is also the first section of “Birds,” and refers to the same person. Line 8 and 9 both refer to the short story, “A Bouquet of Crow Feathers.” T-A is the main character, an unnamed taxidermist. Death, an “alabaster woman,” is the lover of her past, current, and future lives. Stanza 2: Line 10 doesn’t refer to anything specifically. However, the concept of “renouncement” is affiliated with the story “Renounced,” and, consequently, the act of “renouncing” secrets by burying them in the ground. Line 11 is about Fiona White’s act of heroism in “The Whites Knew,” which temporarily saved her family, but cost them their memories of her. Line 12 and 13 refer to the short story, “The 141st,” which is narrated by Maudie’s mother. She’s a character from “Static and Mist,” which highlights the events of the Nadinwold Tragedy, originally written about in “The Rim.” Maudie herself is the wife of Lannie, who was present when Timothy Baines fell into the Well, sparking all later events. Lannie and his entire family is associated with the falling of dead birds from the sky. “The 141st” goes more into those happenings in particular, and also expands upon it as a metaphor, comparing the people of the town to birds. The poem, “Birds,” is also based off this metaphor/ concept. The apology mentioned in line 12 specifically refers to the very last sentences of the short story: “I’m sorry, Maudie. All the birds are dead.” Line 14 is about parts in Achieving Freedom, where again, “A” is parallel to the DGM character, Allen Walker. His fourth father is “C,” and his first three are “A-97,” “N,” and “M,” all of whom are mentioned later in this poem. Line 15 is again about the doorkeeper from “When the Morning Comes.” Lines 16 through 19 are about parallels between characters in “Static and Mist,” comparing Timothy Baines to Matt Barrett, and Ben Mitchells to Stephen Schuttmann. Line 19 refers to the rim of the Well itself. Stanza 3: Line 20 is about the initial and consequential plot points of both “Renounced” and “The Greed That Binds Us,” which were about the same story. One man is the unnamed narrator of “Renounced,” and the other is an acquaintance called Mr. Ellsworth. Line 21 refers to the setting of Pandion Uni-Prep, specifically one of the other main characters. Technically, Kobe and Crea are two different people, but also one, as in their true form they’re a sort two-headed hydra dragon. In human form, they simply have two consciousnesses in a single body. Line 22 is about “C,” A’s fourth father. His original counterpart is Cross Marian from DGM, who is alternatively named “Chris” in Achieving Freedom II, and written into “Letters to Reece.” In the original story (DGM) and all parallel universes through Achieving Freedom II, he is a priest of sorts, which is why the first “Father” is capitalized. Line 23 refers to a character in an unfinished story (possibly a novel or novelette) called “Hearts and Spades.” Roi is an agent in an organization of Elves, all of whom have card- or suit-related titles; in this case, Roi is the King of Hearts, which is also commonly referred to as the “suicide king.” In the story, Roi sacrifices himself for the good of his allies (though it is later revealed that it wasn’t actually his life he sacrificed). His name is also the French word for “king.” Lines 24 and 25 refer back again to “L,” the parallel of the DGM character, Alma Karma. In Achieving Freedom, Alma dies at a young age, but not before telling Kanda (“K,” in here) of his beliefs of the afterlife. The reason Kanda moves somewhere else to work as a florist was because Alma loved flowers; according to Alma’s belief, he and Kanda would then still be able to stay by each others’ sides. For the same reason, Alma also told Kanda to not waste time visiting his grave, because he wouldn’t be there. Line 26 is about a memory of “A,” or Allen Walker (who at the time was called “Red” for various reasons), in which he was chained outside and happened to see Shiemi for the first time. Shiemi is the name of the tiger who imprinted on him during his time living in a circus as a slave. She would later become somewhat of a mother figure to him, as her cage was the only true safe place for him to go (she would comfort and protect him from the abusive people around him). This was the origin of the stanza/ quote that appeared in “Birds,” “Survived in a place where all the humans were beasts, and only the beasts were humane.” In fact, that entire second section of “Birds,” titled “Cub,” was about Red’s experiences, memories, and consequences of abuse in that circus. In the original story (DGM), Red’s (Allen’s) childhood was not nearly as detailed, nor did it include a tiger at all. While the explanation of the abuse he endured was inferred, most of these elements were created by myself for Achieving Freedom. Line 27 refers to an older short story, “Snow and Paper Flowers” (based on the poem, “Paper Flowers”), which appears in the 2016 collection, “The November Tales.” Line 28 actually refers back to the first line of this stanza, in which two men bury a body in a marsh, now stating that the body was Byron Huxley. He is connected to a secret called “Hux,” who was originally kept by the narrator of “Renounced” (its full name was “I killed Byron Huxley”). Hux appears first as a character by narrating “The Greed That Binds Us,” and later appears in “Static and Mist,” alongside the main antagonist, Paeza, who is also a secret. Stanza 4: Line 29 refers to the events of “Red Crows in a Black Maple,” which turned into a poem after the original short story version went unfinished. Line 30 refers to the short story, “Better Lies,” which takes place in the same setting as an older story, “The Maskmaker,” a society that believes hiding emotions directly is best. This “world” is also connected to the story, “The Cleanwater Room,” which takes place in a sub-society within this one, as a test field for emotion-inhibiting microchips. The main character of that story is a woman called 141B who works in a place that’s supposed to fix these microchips. It’s not mentioned in-story, but she later escapes and settles in a remote northern village (Nadinwold), where she starts a family. She has a daughter named Maudie, and later dies in the Nadinwold Tragedy when she falls into the Well, becoming the narrator of “The 141st,” in which she was the 141st person to die. The “B” in her name code from the sub-society stands for “bird,” and she’s also the subject of the fifth section of “Birds”—“Mother.” Line 31 refers to the end of the poem and short story, “Damp,” in which the narrator’s friend, Cara, commits suicide by jumping from a bridge in the rain. Line 32 uses the variable name “G,” for the narrator of “Graveyard,” where he is trapped in his own Chamber (a type of afterlife) for punishment. Lines 33 through 36 all revolve around the “Mary’s Lamb” series of short stories. The first two lines refer to the Chambers of Mary and Agnes, the two main characters. Agnes’ Chamber is told of in “From the House on Meris Lane” (part 2 of the series), and Mary’s Chamber is told of in “The Paint That Won’t Come Off” (part 3 of the series). The part mentioning France refers to the part of the series when Mary died and Agnes was buried with her (the story took place in France). Martha is a maid, as well as one of the other main characters, and the last line is something that happens in the fourth part of the series (unwritten), called “The Lantern Dims,” which was about Martha finally letting go of her hope that Agnes would come back (she didn’t know what happened to her). Mary is also the Purgatorian from the third section of “Birds,” which was about her Chamber, or afterlife. Stanza 5: Lines 37 through 40 refer back again to Achieving Freedom. The first line is about how Allen got his current job as a waiter and performer at Maurice’s, referencing Viv, who he worked with at a club about eight months prior to him moving to his current living place. This line is the closest (in all writings so far) to referencing the original DGM series. In Achieving Freedom II and all variants, these specific details are not usually mentioned directly, due to them being so similar to a part of DGM (also because I was unwilling to change it). The line mentions Allen’s deformed, red arm, which—in DGM—was the location of his “anti-akuma weapon,” related to his occupation in the original series. In Achieving Freedom, such things as akuma do not exist, so his arm does not have any supernatural properties, but it appears very similarly. It was the main reason for his mistreatment in youth and, thereby, severe trauma. The line also mentions his ability to play the piano, which is a talent of his in Achieving Freedom, and an incredibly important plot point in DGM (the history is different though). Line 38 includes a remark/ thought from Viv in Achieving Freedom (sidenote: Viv does not exist, nor does she have a parallel character in DGM). It refers to her thoughts of Allen after discovering his true nature and his history of depression, PTSD, and Keller’s Disorder (fictional). Just before he left his job at the club where he worked with her almost a year prior, he attempted to take his life by overdosing, but Viv found him and saved his life. She has since seen and gained understanding of his tendencies to perform, not only as an occupation, but constantly. Allen Walker from DGM is known to do this as well—to hide his pain in order to not “inconvenience” others. He’s constantly seen smiling and appears optimistic at first glance, but the amount of self-torment, trauma, and grief he deals with are inconceivable. Allen, or “A,” is similar, but does not have the same drive as Allen from DGM, as the latter is a soldier and lives for those he wants to save. “A” does not have this, so he develops suicidal tendencies. Viv recognizes this and determines that the reason that Allen is so good at performing for audiences is because he’s doing it in real life on a regular basis. Line 39 refers to a character in Achieving Freedom who is named Allen Bookman. In the original story (DGM), he is parallel to a character referred to by the fandom as “Past!Allen” or “Pasta” for short. This is mainly because not much is known about him aside from his alliance with a character named Nea Walker (“Noah” in Achieving Freedom II), as well as him being called “Allen” in quotations, and the implied possibility that he is Allen Walker’s past life. Many theorize (for various reasons) that Past!Allen was also a Bookman (occupation for certain individuals who record the secret history of the world). In Achieving Freedom, “Bookman” is (past) Allen’s surname; however, due to the parallels, his birth name was Alice Bookman. In many theories, and partly confirmed points, Past!Allen and Nea Walker are the closest thing Allen Walker has to biological parents, both of whom were most likely his past lives (body from Allen, soul from Walker). So, in Achieving Freedom, Allen Bookman and Nea are his biological parents, and Allen Bookman is transgender. In Achieving Freedom II, Alice changed his name to Reece, and was the subject of the short story, “Letters to Reece.” “A-97” is Allen Bookman’s variable name, based off “A” and my own made-up number for his bookman name (bookmen change their names and are referred to by both these and how many they’ve had; i.e.: there is also a character called “Lavi the 49th,” who was previously known as “Deak the 48th”). Line 40 refers to the previously-mentioned first three fathers of “A.” The first two would be Allen Bookman (“A-97”) and Nea Walker (“N”), his biological fathers. The third is Nea’s older twin, Mana Walker (“M”), who was Allen’s adoptive father after his time in the circus, in both DGM and Achieving Freedom. Allen at this time did not know of his first two fathers, and in Achieving Freedom, Mana finding him was a coincidence, but in DGM it was implied that it wasn’t. Mana suffers from memory loss throughout his life. In DGM, he’d mistake Allen (who was named “Red” at the time) for his recently-deceased dog, who was named Allen (this is where Red got his current name). In Achieving Freedom, he’d mistakenly call Red—not only “Allen,” but “Nea,” who’d also passed away years ago. This alludes to Allen’s connection to Nea, who’d married Allen Bookman years earlier. As the line states, Nea was killed in a car accident when Mana had been driving (cue debilitating guilt), which runs parallel to DGM where Nea was supposedly killed by Mana by other means. Line 41 refers to a short story titled, “The River Shoes,” which was narrated by a writer. Line 42 is about the short story, “Three Places Set.” Line 43 refers to a scene in “Static and Mist,” in which Timothy Baines meets Sam, the main character of “Three Places Set.” Line 44 refers to a point of the short story, “Promises,” where all the main characters are dead and in the afterlife. Line 45 refers back to “The River Shoes,” which includes (though he isn’t named in-story) a garner spirit named Calig that takes the shape of a toad. Garner spirits are usually harmless and occupy a small territory in order to collect lost things. Line 46 states a fact observed by astronomers, but also refers to the main theme of the performance poem, “Magnitude,” which uses 6th-magnitude stars as a metaphor for the hopeless, helpless, and dying, unnoticed. Line 47 also refers to “Magnitude,” specifically to the concept of “shipwrecks”, which appears in several writing pieces and represents the same metaphor as 6th-magnitude stars. Shipwrecks first appeared in “Hourglass,” the prequel to “Magnitude.” It’s also the title of the 6th section of “Birds.” Stanza 6: Line 48 refers to a real experience of mine that “Lights on a Lake” was based on. “O” is the variable name for my own name. Line 49 refers to the prologue scene of an older story, “Under Spirit Wings.” The character, Sparrow, was a man who searched for a way to get part of his soul back. Doing this led him back to Talonstrider, a dragon and the daughter of his former colleague and best friend, who’s death was an accident, but nonetheless caused by Sparrow. The event inside the bar was also marked in an even older story, “The Gates of Ithycyan,” but it was narrated by someone else who did not enter the bar; in this story, it is not yet known what occurred inside. Line 50 refers to a short story from “The November Tales” called “The Executioner.” The narrator told of their victims, which were revealed to be side-characters and backstory characters, and the Executioner themself was a writer. Line 51 includes Sam from “Three Places Set” again, but refers to part 2 of the “Death Inc.” series, “Snowfall and Scythes.” Here, his friend and the girl he leaves the paper flower for are the main characters from “Snow and Paper Flowers.” Line 52 refers back to the parallels between Ben Mitchells and Stephen Schuttmann, who never cross paths in-story. Line 53 refers to the poem, “How Far Are You,” which was based off the song, “St. Elmo’s Fire,” by Bump of Chicken. St. Elmo’s Fire is a weather phenomenon observed by sailors, said to be a sign that their patron saint was watching over them in storms. Line 54 refers to a short piece titled “Too Torn to Beg,” told from the point of view of someone standing outside the room where their family pet was being put down. It was based off the song, “Putting the Dog to Sleep” by The Antlers. Line 55 refers back to “C” from Achieving Freedom, or “Cross” from DGM, and the reason why he decided to take on the task of raising Allen as a foster child. He had been close to Nea, in both versions of the universes, and agreed to carry out his will. In Achieving Freedom, Nea’s child would have been cared for by Allen Bookman when he died, but Allen B died during childbirth a few days prior. Mana would be next, and he was, for a while, as the adoptive father (third father), but he also died later on, when Allen Walker was about 9 or 10. Cross took over then, but was unprepared and, therefore, somewhat unwilling and hesitant for a while. Line 56 refers back to the narrator and their friend/ the doorkeeper from “When the Morning Comes,” and the outcome of their final meeting. Lines 57 through 59 are about Achieving Freedom. The first refers to Kanda and Allen, as well as Viv’s previous observation about Allen’s “performance” of being happy and okay when he really wasn’t. In Achieving Freedom, Allen is uncomfortable around oven mitts because he was forced to wear one while living in the circus, to cover up his left arm. In one scene, he leaves the room due to the onset of a PTSD attack from trying to use one, but no one notices his reason. The last two lines refer to a branch off Achieving Freedom, which “Until Tomorrow” (mentioned earlier) was based off. In this version, Kanda finds Allen after he kills himself by overdosing. Prior to this, Allen leaves the note told about in the poem/ story, which includes a generic message due to being written in preparation, with “the date rewritten every time he decides not to end his life.” The last line picks up right where line 2 leaves off, setting-wise. The note that “A” threw out after being caught is the same one that he retrieved later. The event is also told of in the fourth section of “Birds,” titled based on what the character died doing: “Author.”